I recently found myself at home with my partner around midnight, both of us wide awake and incredibly bored. He and I began listing off some possibilities of things to do so late at night that would entertain us. We couldn’t decide on a movie or TV show we wanted to watch, or a game we could play with just the two of us, and most places we would usually go were closed at that hour. There was, however, a 24-hour Walmart close by.
My partner suggested going to the Walmart to walk around and I became super nostalgic for my summers working at camp, where our nights off were spent at the local Walmart, stocking up on candy, camping supplies, and little treats for our secret buddies–a gift exchange program between counselors to brighten our days with gifts in our mailboxes. I missed the excitement of getting presents every week or so, even when it was little things like candy or socks. I suggested doing something like that with my partner–setting a budget and putting together a care package for each other. He loved the idea so we set off to Walmart, excitedly discussing vague ideas of things to buy each other on the way.
We set our budget at $30 each–enough to get a variety of things without really breaking the bank. We each grabbed a shopping basket and headed off in seperate directions in the store. We took our time shopping around, thinking of what kinds of things the other would like. I browsed several sections I knew he’d like something from: the toy section (of course), the candy aisle, Halloween decorations. Every now and then I’d see him down another aisle and stealthily slip by. At one point we both met up in the Halloween section and my boyfriend began playfully shouting not to look at his basket as he ran by. We had a lot of fun avoiding each other so we wouldn’t ruin the surprise.
We ended up checking out at different times and met up outside, hiding our bags in the car where the other wouldn’t see. On the ride home we discussed what it was like to shop for each other and all the things we wanted to buy, but didn’t for one reason or another.
When we got home, we took turns pulling out each other’s gifts from our bags and explaining why we bought that particular item. We had a lot of fun, talking and giggling about the silly things we bought or almost bought each other. In the end, we were both really pleased with our care packages.
What I Gave Him
Giant Oreo chocolate bar- Oreo slap bracelet (these were free!)
- 12-pack of Reese’s Pieces cups
- Hand sanitizer (for his car)
- Jack-o-lantern string lights
- Harry Potter Hermione desk toy
- Harry Potter 5-pack metal figurines
- Harry Potter Newt Scamander metal figurine
- Bag of Dum-Dum lollipops
- Kinder egg
What He Got Me
Wearable unicorn horn- Blue mason jar cup with floral lid and straw
- Incense
- A tub of cookie dough
- Clear jar (for my tiny dicks!)
- Large glass candle
- Bag of dark chocolate Kit Kats
- Plastic water bottle
- 2-pound bag of Sour Patch Watermelons
This date night was a huge success with us. Not only did we have a lot of fun shopping and exchanging gifts, but we chatted about the trip and everything we thought about buying for a while and it felt like a real bonding experience. We decided this would be a repeat date night idea for the future, especially since we were able to do it so late at night when everything else was closed. We had too much fun to only do it once!
xx SF
